Seaside Heights officials question tow company charges

Nov. 14, 2012

Written by

Margaret F. Bonafide

@mfbonafide

SEASIDE HEIGHTS — Borough police said they requested county and state officials examine price gouging claims made by some residents about APK Towing of Toms River, the only company permitted to remove vehicles from the borough in the wake of superstorm Sandy.

Residents confronted the Borough Council at its meeting Nov. 7 about the towing company. Borough officials also said they have received many phone calls from residents complaining about APK’s prices.

Some residents reported their charges ranged from about $475 to more than $800 to remove vehicles from storm-ravaged Seaside Heights, borough officials said. APK is under contract with Seaside Heights as the sole towing company for the borough.

Residents complaints lead borough officials to contact the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and the state Division of Consumer Affairs to investigate towing charges levied by APK to residents to retrieve their vehicles.

Officials for the prosecutor’s office and the DCA were in Seaside Heights on Wednesday interviewing residents about APK, Police Chief Thomas Boyd confirmed. However, officials for the prosecutor’s office and the DCA said it is their policy not to comment on investigations, or possible investigations.

APK’s attorney Steven Secare of Toms River said the towing company has done everything that officials told them to do, including “removing vehicles and boats so emergency work could move forward.”

“Prices that were charged are absolutely consistent with the ordinances and they hired an outside person to come in and review” the charges, Secare said. “There was no price gouging.”

The borough ordinance states the maximum rate for towing is $105 with a storage fee of $25 per day.

Ray Sandquist, a displaced Carteret Avenue resident, expected that price when he asked APK on Sunday to bring his 18-year-old Ford F-150 pickup truck parked in a driveway in Seaside Heights to a Toms River address. Instead, APK retrieved his truck and “they drove right past were I am staying and brought it all the way to Bamber Lake (a section of Lacey).”

Sandquist said he was charged $472 to get his truck back.

Vehicles parked in the road were ordered to be moved by Gov. Chris Christie so emergency crews could do their jobs, said Mayor William Akers. Some people paid as much as $900 to APK, according to receipts shown to Akers at the Nov. 7 Borough Council meeting. Vehicles also were towed off private property, Akers said.

“There are more questions here than answers,” the mayor said. “These charges are ridiculous.”

Yet Secare contends APK did what was asked of them. If there were mistakes in billing, it will be rectified, he said.

“They were told to go in and get vehicles and boats so emergency actions could be taken,” Secare said. “There were cars that were flooded with raw sewage all over the place.”